Philadelphia Family Pride was proud to present a School Fair for LGBTQ+ Communities (and Allies!) on Saturday, April 29th from 12-2pm at the William Way LGBT Center at 1315 Spruce Street in Center City Philadelphia. This event featured representatives from public and private schools that cover all ages and grades as well as information on homeschooling, plus a representative from the Children’s Scholarship Fund Philadelphia.

This free event was well attended and intended for LGBTQ+ parents, prospective parents, LGBTQ+ kids and youth as well as allies.

We published an accompanying school fair booklet that we handed out in print at the event and is available for download as a PDF here. The booklet includes a list of participating schools and a spreadsheet showing each school’s LGBTQ-related policies, trainings, etc..

The “Maybe Baby & Beyond: Exploring Paths to Parenthood” groups are starting back up this year! This 8-week experience will provide information from legal, financial, fertility, surrogacy, adoption and medical experts, as well as emotional, social and community support around becoming a parent. Speakers will include professionals and current LGBTQ parents. Participants will finish the eight weeks with a sense of their options, how to navigate the process as an LGBTQ person, and connections with those on a similar journey.

The group at the Therapy Center of Philadelphia for LGBQ women and trans/gender-queer and non-binary communities considering paths to parenthood will meet on Wednesday nights from 6:30-8:00pm for eight weeks starting February 28, 2018 at their offices at 1315 Walnut Street, 10th floor. The group will be facilitated by Maliha Ibrahim and Samantha Rucker. To sign up for the next set of classes, contact them at 215-567-1111.

The group for queer, gay and bi cisgender and transgender men and non-binary folks will meet at the Walnut Psychotherapy Center this summer starting May 24, 2018 on Thursday nights from 5:30-7pm at 1500 Walnut Street, Suite 300. Therapist Josh Freker will be the facilitator. Call 215-563-7863 for more info and to get on the list to be a part of this group.

The Therapy Center group will focus more on pregnancy, prenatal and postpartum care, with info about adoption and fostering. The group at Walnut Psychotherapy Center will focus more on adoption and fostering with info about surrogacy available as well. Transgender, genderqueer, non-binary and other gender expansive folks are invited to choose the group that seems best for them.

Cost for participation for the full 8 weeks for both groups is $250/couple ($125/individual) for Philadelphia Family Pride members or $330/couple ($165/individual) for non-PFP members. Those not already PFP members can join on our web site. There will also be a $50 intake session fee for both groups.

Our keynote speaker this year was Heath Fogg Davis, pictured. His talk was entitled “Parenting Through the Bureaucracy of Gender.”

Davis is the author of Beyond Trans: Does Gender Matter? (NYU Press), a book that offers practical guidance to individuals and organizations on how to develop trans-inclusive policies that are institutionally smart. He is a professor at Temple University, where he teaches and conducts research on anti-discrimination law and policy. He also consults with businesses, schools, healthcare providers, and non-profits on trans-inclusion. Heath and his wife and kids live in Philadelphia and are active members of the PFP New and Expectant Parent Group.

Heath will be selling his book at the event at a 20% discount and will be available to sign them. If you’d like to order the book online (for the full price) you can do so at these links.

COLAGE again be provided programming for kids and youth ages 7 – 14 years old and St. Mary’s Nursery School staffed the child care for 0-6 year olds. After lunch there was a special “Family Time” session for parents to join their kids in the child care room for story time, movement and family fun with PFP board member and CHOP MSW,LCSW Greg Hedler.

Our conference wouldn’t be possible without the support of our many sponsors.

The conference was first held in 2010 at the Bryn Mawr School of Social Work and Social Research and offered 20 workshops for attendees, as well as a kids zone.

In 2011, our second annual conference was sponsored by Widener University and Widener’s Center for Social Work Education and the Graduate Program in Human Sexuality. There were 18 workshops and panels during the day, including an Ask the Experts! Teen Panel during lunch.

In 2012, our third annual conference was sponsored by Arcadia University School of Education, the Graduate Program in Counseling Psychology. The theme was “Welcoming Schools” and the keynote speaker Graciela Slesaransky-Poe. We offered 13 workshops and panels, including ones specifically for educators.

In 2013, our fourth conference was held at the William Way LGBT Community Center. The theme was “Telling Our Stories” and the keynote speaker was kids’ book author Cory Silverberg.

In 2014, our fifth conference was held at The Philadelphia School. The theme was “Our Families and the Future” and they keynote speaker was Mary Anders.

In 2015, our sixth conference was held at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. The theme was “Mind, Body and Soul: Taking care of our ourselves and our families.” Our keynote speaker was Dr. Rachel Levine, Physician General for Pennsylvania.

In 2016, our seventh conference was held at the University of the Sciences with keynote speaker Staceyann Chin.